Ikkoryu Fukuoka Ramen

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to Ikkoryu Fukuoka Ramen’s soft opening event just before their Grand Opening on April 1st. It would not surprise you then, to see a hoard of posts from bloggers around Melbourne writing up their experiences on the night. It was a busy night and there was a lot of excitement around a new ramen restaurant in the city. There was a great turn out on the night, and the atmosphere was bustling with bloggers and ramen enthusiasts.

A lot can be said about the Melbourne food scene when you turn a venue that was once a bar into a Japanese restaurant completely fitted out with its own seiza style floor dining behind wooden sliding doors. Well the people from Ikkoryu Fukuoka Ramen did just that.

The night started off well for the restaurant. People were quickly filing into the restaurant to escape the chilling evening, filling up chairs and seats in no time.

As Le Boy and I were settling in, we were served some drinks to try. The apple juice mixed with sake cocktail made for a really nice combination, while the Kizakura sake had a nice smooth taste to it.

Free appetizers were being served all round while we were figuring out what to order. Upon entering, everyone was given a sheet to place their order on. Once filled out, just call over a waiter for them to collect your order number. Ramen was the only item available on the menu for the night.

Karage and Gyoza

After a while, I began to notice a lot of people who had arrived before us getting ready to leave. It appeared that they could wait no longer for their ramen bowls. Almost an hour had passed before I decided to ask one of the waiters about what was happening with the orders. As the chefs were only using the counter kitchen tonight, service was a little slow, but were were promised no more than another 15mins before they would reach our order.

Miso Tonkotsu $17.00

When our bowls of ramen were finally laid in front of us, Le Boy and I were both famished. We dug into the bowls almost like hungry fish in the sea and I even managed to finish my whole bowl of ramen, broth and all.

Both the ramen bowls had a nice deeply flavoured broth to it. I preferred my Ikkoryu’s original bowl, over Le Boy’s Miso bowl as it was not as salty (asked for light soy) and therefore more easier to drink from. As a stock bowl of ramen, the prices a little on the more expensive side with a taste even though good, does not match the asking price, especially since we haven’t added any extras to the either.

Compared to the other ramen restaurants around the area Ikkoryu Ramen sits just above your average bowl of ramen. Only time will tell how the quality and taste of their ramen will develop in the future and perhaps once they are more established and have everything under control, I’ll return to give them another try.